You Are My Hope
by depptennant
Summary: He is a criminal, she is a high school girl with CF. She is his brother's best friend and his chance of happiness... well, he just doesn't know it yet.
1. A Quiet Start

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bates Motel or any of its characters, and I'm not getting any money by writing this fanfiction either; this is just for fun.**

* * *

**You Are My Hope**

_by percico-feels_

* * *

**Chapter I: A Quiet Start**

Emma is working at the motel on the night shift, covering for Norma, who is out on a date. She does not know where Norman is, but she is used to staying by her own on the motel already, so she does not mind it. And, besides, is a quiet night. Nothing is happening and, by 9 PM, most of the families is already preparing to bed.

That is when he arrives.

She sees, through the office window, when Dylan parks his truck in front of the motel and gets out of the car; he is visibly limping and that is enough to make Emma realize that something might be wrong.

Taking her O2 tank, she steps out of the office. Dylan is already by the steps to the house.

"Dylan!" she calls, startling him a bit.

He stops on his tracks for a moment, his body stiffening and tensed up. On the poor light of the lamppost, Emma can barely see Dylan properly; the shadows hiding him slightly, but she does not approach him.

"Your mom is not home, nor is Norman" she states "Do you need anything?"

He turns to face her and takes a few steps towards the girl. Emma can't help but gasp in surprise. He has a large ugly cut on the eyebrow and, thanks to that, part of his face is covered in blood, as well as his shirt. His lip is split and there is a purple bruise on his jaw.

"What the hell happened to you?" Emma asks, hurrying to reach him.

"Where's Norma?" he asks, ignoring her previous question.

"She's out on a date. At George Helden's I think."

He seems to relax a bit after the girl's answer.

"What happened to you?" she asks again and now she is less than three steps from him.

Her gaze is intense and she is determined to get an answer from him, although she suspects she knows exactly what happened to him.

"A business meeting went wrong" he answers shortly.

Just as she thought.

His blue eyes stare straight on her chocolate brown ones, as if challenging her of asking anything else. She doesn't, but just because the way he's looking at her makes it clear that he will not answer if she asks.

"Okay" she nods, and clearing her throat, she adds "So, let's get inside. You need to clean this cut before it gets infected."

She tries to reach for his arm, but he retracts, stepping away.

"This is nothing. I'm good."

"That's not what it looks like" she insists.

"I've been worse, you don't need to do this."

She sighs. His hesitation on accepting her help does not surprise Emma, she was actually expecting that. The two of them are not really friends, but she can't let him leave beaten up like that, can she?

"You're limping, Dylan. Don't be stubborn, it will only take a minute."

She is calling him stubborn, but she is just as stubborn as he is, Dylan notices. For a frail skinny teenage girl with CF, Emma sure doesn't seem to mind the fact that she's talking to one of the town's biggest criminals. Dylan likes that.

"You won't leave me alone if I don't go with you, will you?" he asks.

"No, but I can't stop you if you decide to leave the motel like this. Your car is better than mine, it's not like I can chase after you, or anything."

He chuckles in amusement, but stops immediately when his split lip starts stinging again.

* * *

She returns a few seconds later bringing a first aid kit with her. Dylan is sitting on one of the armchairs at Norma's office, so Emma puts the first aid kit on the table and pulls a chair in front of him. Using a piece of gauze, Emma first cleans all traces of blood on Dylan's face, then focuses on disinfecting the open wound on his eyebrow.

He hisses in pain and pulls away instinctively, when she applies some antiseptic on the cut.

"Sorry" Emma says quickly, before continuing her task, this time more carefully.

"It's okay."

He watches her as the girl works silently for a while; her hands gentle not to hurt him even more.

"So, you wanna tell me how you ended up like this?" she asks, while working.

"Not really" he answers honestly. He is not trying to be rude, but he really does not want to talk about it.

Emma just smiles and focuses on her task once more. When she is sure she has cleaned all his wounds, she discards all the used gauzes

"Thanks Emma."

"What about your leg?"

Dylan shrugs, trying to assure her that is not a big deal and she doesn't need to worry.

"I'll be fine, it's not hurting that much" he says, standing up.

He picks his jacket on the chair and puts it on. In truth, his leg is hurting like a bitch, but Emma doesn't need to know that. She has already done enough for him that night.

"I'm serious, I'll be fine" he insists, when he notices she is still giving him a suspicious glare "Now do me a favor. If Norman gets back before you go home, tell him I need to talk to him. It's something important and he's not answering his phone."

"Sure. I'll let him know" the girl says simply.

Dylan is not the talking type and he hates awkward silences, so instead of trying to make small talk with Emma, he just walks towards the exit, ready to leave. He stops by the door, though; his hand gripping the doorknob and he turns just enough to give her a small smile.

"Thanks again, Emma" he says quietly.

"You're welcome, Dylan."

He nods, then leaves without saying another word. Emma watches as he gets on his truck and drives away, disappearing down the road. Norman doesn't show up that night, so Emma writes a note saying that Dylan came by as wanted to talk to him and leaves it on the desk.

By 10:30 PM, she goes home. It's a quiet night and nothing happens on her way home.

* * *

**An Author's Note**

**So, this is my first work for this fandom and I'm actually new here, so please be kind to me.**

**Anyway, this is a short chapter, but the next one should be longer and more elaborated.**

**Thanks for your attention, darling.**

_**~percico-feels**_


	2. No need for worries, right?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bates Motel or any of its characters, and I'm not getting any money by writing this fanfiction either; this is just for fun.**

* * *

**Chapter II: No need for worries, right?**

The sun is already high in the sky when Norma parks her car in front of the motel. People enter and leave their rooms and the place if filled with the sound of chatting and laughter from the children playing outside, while waiting for their parents to come outside as well.

"Mother!"

She is not even out of the car yet when she hears Norman calling her. Her blue eyes fix on the lean form of her youngest son, as he crosses the park lot in a hurried pace; his face slightly pale and practically glistening in the sunlight.

"What is it, sweetheart?" She asks sensing her son's distress.

Norma meets him halfway to her car and cups his face lightly; an attempt to calm him down.

"It's Dylan," he says nervous. "Emma left a note saying he'd dropped by looking for us last night, so I called her this morning and asked what happened. She said he came here and that he was all beaten up! I tried to call Dylan, but he is not picking up his phone. What if something bad has happened to him, mother? What if…"

"Shhhh, calm down, Norman," Norma says, wrapping her arms around her son and pulling him into a tight embrace; her hands stroking his hair softly. "Nothing bad happened to your brother, baby, I'm sure he's okay."

"But he…"

"You know he has a dangerous job, Norman," she says more fiercely this time. "And you also know that Dylan is more than capable of taking care of himself. I'm sure he's fine."

"He was hurt, mother! That doesn't seem _'fine'_ to me."

By the corner of her eyes, Norma can see that some people are already staring at where she and Norman are standing; casting curious glances at them, trying to figure out what mother and son are talking about. Norma Bates hates gossipers, but she still smiles and waves her hand politely at the ones looking at her, before turning her attention to her son once more.

Norman's hands tremble. His body is rigid and there is so much fear in his eyes, so much genuine fear for his brother's wellbeing, that Norma finds herself unable to ignore all that.

She sighs and gives her youngest son a comforting hug, to which Norman reciprocates immediately.

"I'll talk to him and check if he's okay, then," Norma promises, and she feels Norman's body relax on her arms. "Just let me take a shower first, okay?"

Norman nods. "Thank you, mother."

* * *

When Emma arrives at the motel is nearly mid-morning. She parks her car beside Norma's and makes her way to the office, greeting politely the few families she passes by. The sun is burning hot and shinning merciless in the sky and most people has already been off to the nearest river or beach.

Inside the office, Norman is writing something in what looks like a journal, but he stops paying attention to the paper when Emma enters.

"Good morning," the girl greets cheerfully, setting her bag down in a chair. "Beautiful day, don't you think?"

Norman smiles at her friendly. "Good morning, Emma. Yes, it's a beautiful day."

She smiles back briefly, before crossing the office to join Norman behind the desk. She says nothing when he closes his journal and hide it away in a hurry, though the action catches her attention and makes her slightly suspicious.

"How's it going so far? Any new reservations?" She asks instead.

Norman shakes his head. "None. It's been dead for a while around here, most people left to the beach or something and the rest is preparing to do the same."

"As I said, it's a beautiful outside, I doubt anyone's gonna waste it being inside."

"Except us, you mean."

Emma holds back a laugh and nods in agreement. "Yeah, except us."

Their conversation is cut off when a man in his mid-thirties enters the office and asks for a room. He brings a small suitcase with him and nothing more. His dark green eyes stare at the two teenagers coldly, but his voice is polite, almost soft. His presence makes Emma a bit uneasy, but she greets him nonetheless.

As Norman walks to grab the keys to the room, Emma takes the payment and writes down the man's info on the black-leathered book, before handing back his ID.

"Do you want us to show you your room, sir?" Norman asks, passing him the keys, but the man just shakes his head dismissively

"This won't be necessary, thank you." He says, grabbing his suitcase from the floor and heading to the door.

He gives them no time to reply, leaving the office without even casting a last glance to the teenagers inside there.

"He's a kinda weird, isn't he?" Norman asks suddenly, to Emma's surprise. She looks at him with a frown. "What? He is!"

Emma shares the same opinion, but she just shrugs, choosing not to give the matter too much thought. Her father always says she shouldn't judge someone's character without knowing them first, so she drops the subject right away. "Have you hear anything from Dylan, yet?" She asks, changing the subject.

"He didn't answer when I called, but mother said she's gonna try calling him again."

The answer is not what Emma has been expecting. She wonders if something bad happened to Dylan after he left the motel and Emma can't help but worry about him.

"Don't worry, Emma. I'm sure he's fine," Norman says, sensing the beginning of her distress, but Emma doesn't miss the doubt in his own voice.

* * *

"Yes Norma, I'm alright," Dylan says for the fourth time in a row. He tries to sound annoyed, but the genuine concern in her voice is kind of touching. "Where are you?"

"I'm at home, where else would I be?" Norma answers at the other side of the line.

"Good. Then stay there and don't leave. Norman too," he says seriously. "I need to talk to you. Something happened and it may not be a good thing."

"What are you talking about, Dylan? What happened?"

Her voice sounds an octave higher than usual, but Dylan doesn't explain anything further. "I can't tell you right now, but I'm leaving the office in ten and dropping by the motel right away. Wait for me and _don't leave._"

"Dylan! What's going on?"

"See you in ten, Norma." He says, then hangs up the phone, to Norma's despair.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Okay, I'm gonna be honest here, I didn't have much plans about continuing this story. But you guys have been awesome and sweet, so I'm giving it a shot. I can't promise lots of updates because this is my last year in college, so I'm quite busy, but I'm gonna try finishing this for you.**

**I wanna thank you for the support and for the kind words, they mean a lot to me.**

**See you next chapter. **

_**Julie Anna T.**_


End file.
